Mr Catanzarite had purchased a $29 pair of earpods from the Pioneer Apple Store in Portland on July 8, and posted the receipt on Tuesday after discovering the slur. It has since spread across the internet.

The offensive email address was added after Mr Cantazarite declined to give his to the employee.

“The impact that seeing the f@g.com on my receipt has brought about a feeling of great disappointment that this happened and it has made me feel that doing something banal as going to a store is now an unsafe activity,” he posted on Facebook.

The store manager offered a refund for the headphones but Mr Catanzarite, an HIV prevention specialist, offered his services to lead cultural competency training instead.

“I didn’t really get a whole lot of interest in that department,” he said.

The receipt in full.Source:Facebook

Mr Catanzarite is still yet to receive his $29 refund, but in an update posted to his Facebook page overnight, he said the store manager also gave him an Apple store gift card, which he gave away “because I did not find value in being bought out and I had no interest in returning to the store again”.

He pleaded with Apple to educate its employees on discrimination and homophobia, and while a spokeswoman told The Oregonian the company had been alerted to the issue, it declined to comment.

“The employee who entered f@g.com should not be fired, but should be given an opportunity to learn about the impact of the use of the word fag and how these words impact the individuals who have been oppressed by them,” Mr Catanzarite wrote.

“Apple should give this employee an opportunity to get the resources they need to better serve their customers.”